Water Pump Replacement (And Fan Clutch?)

[rossiz]

I broke some too - big pain. +1 on antisieze.

[tehmbrick]

OK - completed my repairs over the weekend and now am running hot.

 

Here's what I did:

-New water pump

-New fan clutch

-New thermostat (180deg)

 

Everything is back together, car runs well but hotter (based on temp gauge) than in past. I don't know if I should be concerned or not.

 

Prior to the repairs the problem diagnosis was based on the following:

 

(1) Unusual sounds from engine bay - upon closer examination found to be from the fan, water pump pulley area

(2) A wobbly fan and water pump pulley - I could wiggle the fan horizontally. This was ultimately from a warn out water pump. I could wiggle this off its axis quite a bit.

(3) Now, I should mention I was dumb enough to temp fate by driving a couple of times before parking and completing the repairs. On my last drive I was headed home and I noticed my temp gauge beyond the half-way mark for the first time since I owned the car. This was my last sign that something was wrong and I didn't want to do any damage by sever overheating.

 

After completing the repairs I went for a neighborhood drive (2-3 miles, no speeds over 40 mph). Near the end the temp gauge started reaching these previously unseen highs (I'd say 5/8th of the way on the gauge, or, just past half - in past a couple of hairs past half was the most it would get to).

 

The point of this all is this - how do I diagnose if I have a problem, or not? I don't want to hit the freeway for fear of serious overheating.

 

Some more detail on the repair:

-Completed coolant system flush (filled with distilled water after reassembly, ran the car and the heater to circulate, then drained)

-Upon first start after reassembly the car only reached 3/8th of the temp gauge (i.e. it didn't warm up to its usual point). I'm not sure if this means anything but it did strike me as odd that on the 2nd warm-up and 3rd, it did get back to the normal range (all warm up was done at stop in the garage .. mostly idle, high idle)

-I went through 3 warm-up cool-down cycles with the radiator cap off (as I understand this is a good way to 'burp' the coolant system)

 

My current thinking is it's either one of three things: (1) thermostat faulty (2) overheating before repair caused damage (3) it's nothing, ignore the unusually high temps - I have a problem with this because the car has never operated in this range previously. It just doesn't add up. (4) something else - not sure what this could be, there are no other symptoms of any problem

 

Apologies for the novel. Just hoping there's a vet here who may have been through this. 

 

-TD

 

 

Hi all,

 

Looking for guidance regarding part selection and source for water pump and fan clutch on a '73 S30.

 

Nissan dealer quoting $90 for the water pump and indicates a new pully is recommended (as a result of a slight part design change); $67 for the pully. ($47 for the water pump on Motorsport Auto)

 

Nissan dealer telling me that I can't buy the fan clutch alone, so fan clutch with fan is $271.15 (compared to $80 on Motosport Auto)

 

I suspect this is an OEM vs. aftermarket question. Anyone here experienced with replacing these parts and have advice?

 

Newbie post. Did search the forums, apologies for anything I've missed.

 

Thanks,

 

-TD

[Zed Head]

When I installed a new Nissan brand 180 degree thermostat, my "normal" operating temperature increased a little bit also.  But ti was rock steady at that temperature, whereas before the temperature fluctuated, always below the new "normal", but still enough to make me wonder.  I attributed it to an old worn out thermostat that wasn't closing completely, or was getting pushed open by pump pressure, letting the engine run abnormally cold.  If the temperature climbs steadily to the new spot then stops and just sits there, that's good.